Terminal feeding mechanism



Feb. 14, 1961 Filed July 15, 1958 P. T. HAHN TERMINAL FEEDING MECHANISM 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

Paul T Hahn Feb. 14, 1961 P. T. HAHN TERMINAL FEEDING MECHANISM 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 15, 1958 3,971,194 TERMINAL nnunnvc MECHANISM Paul Hahn, Harrisburg, Pa., assignor to AMP Incorporated, Harrisburg, Pa.

Filed July 15, 1958, Ser. No. 748,721

7 Claims. (Cl. 1-177) This invention relates to feeding mechanisms for feeding material to presses and the like. The invention is disclosed herein with conjunction with a crimping press for electrical terminals in strip form, however, it will be obvious that the invention is adaptable to other uses.

An object of the present invention is to provide an improved feeding mechanism for a crimping press or the like. A more specific object is the provision of a feeding mechanism capable of positioning precisely and accurately an electrical terminal with relation to a set of crimping dies. Such precise and accurate positioning of the terminal is important in the connector art by reason of the fact that the crimping of connectors onto wires is an exacting operation and the terminal must be precisely positioned with respect to the crimping dies if a proper crimped connection is to be obtained.

A further object of the invention is to provide a terminal feedingmeans which is readily adjustable both with respect to the length of the feeding stroke and with respect to the positon of the fed terminal attheend of the feeding stroke. This object is of importance for 'the reason. that electrical connectors and terminals are provided and used in a wide variety of sizes and shapes,

j and if a crimping press is to be used for several of the various types of connectors available, it should be capable of being adjusted rapidly and accurately to accommodate the dilferent lengths of feed strokes required;

A further-object is to provide a terminal feeding mechanism in Whichthe parts such as the feed finger are of 'relaitvely light weight and in which the feeding takes place in steady, evenand in a relatively gentle manner. -It is impotrant in the connector art that feeding be accomplished' in this manner for the reason that many con-' nectors are relatively small and may be produced from "sheet metal which is relatively thin, for example, 0.016 inch in thickness. The feeding of connectors of such ,fthin" sheet metal should be relatively gentle and should not impose undue stresses on the connectors since they can easily be bent or otherwise deformed during the feedingstep. I

A further objectof the invention is to provide a feeding mechanism which has a uniform acceleration and deceleration feed stroke and in which the stroke andthe final position of the fed terminal can be changed-without disturbing the uniform acceleration and deceleration motion. A further objectis to provide a feeding mechanism in which the length of the feedstroke can be changed withi z'stroke. Other'objects an'dattainments of the present invention 'i will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon a flout changing: the position of feed'finger at the end-ofthe .reading ofthe followingwdetailed. description when taken;

inconj'unction with the drawings in which there'is shown and; described :an illustrative embodiment of" the inven tion; it; is -to be understood; however, that this 'embodi rment is not intendedto beexhaustive: nor-"limiting Qfrthfl invention. but is given for purposes of illustration in order :1

that others skilled in the art may fully understand the invention and 'the principles thereof and the manner of applying it in practical use so that they may modify it in various forms, each as may be best suited to the conditions of a particular use.

In the. drawings:

Figure l. is a frontal'view of a crimping press incorporating a feeding mechanism in accordance with the invention;

Figure 2 is a view taken along the lines 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a view taken along the lines 3-3 of Figure 1;

Figure 4' is a frontal view showing the feeding mechanism on an enlarged scale;

Figure 5 is a view taken along the lines 55 of Figure 4; and

Figure 6 is a view taken along the lines 6--6 of Figure 4.

The disclosed embodiment of the invention is shown in conjunction with a crimping press comprising a generally V-shaped frame 2 secured to a surface by means of gibs -4 and having a power shaft 6 journaled. for rotation in its upper portion 8. On one end ofshaft 6 a sprocket 10 is provided which is coupled by means of a chain 12, which passes over an idler sprocket 14, to a suitable source of power such as an electric motor (not shown). The particular embodiment shown is thus adapted for continuous operation as in a fullyautomatic lead making clutch may be provided to cause the ram to descend under the control of the operator.

Shaft 6 has an eccentric 16 keyed or otherwise secured to its opposite end which eccentric is contained between plates 18. An eccentric strap orhub 20 surrounds eccentric 16 and has an extension 22 extending therefrom.

A pin 24, adjustably secured to extension 22, has a ball and socket pivotal connection 26 with a press ram 28 mounted for reciprocation between gibs 30 secured to the sides of the frame. On its lower end this ram carries crimping tooling including, in the disclosed embodiment,

a slugout blade 32 for removing the short slugs of metal which connect adjacent strip terminals, a wire barrel crimper 34 which crimps a portion of the terminal onto the stripped end of the wire and an insulation barrel 'crimper 36 which crimps an insulation barrel of the connector onto the insulation of the conductor. Advantageously, a knock-out bar 37 is provided for the purpose of dislodging the crimped terminal from the crimping dies 34, 36. This bar is fixed with relation tothe crimp- -ing dies so that as the ram ascends, if a crimped terminal is lodged in the crimpers, it will engage the stationary tends from the base ofpress frame 2 and has mounted onitsupper surface a plate 41. The lower crimping dies knock-out device and be dislodged. A pedestal 38 exor anvils 40 are secured to a block 42 which is supported and adjustablysecured to this plate. These dies are not specifically identified or described since their construction is commonly known to the art and will vary, in any .event, with the specific type of terminal being crimped. ltwill he; noted from Figure 1 that the crimping dies and. anvils are mounted in such manner that the wire is adapted to be fed from the left in this figure and the tending through slots 46 in the .block and into threaded openings in the plate 41. Thus the'blockcan be adjusted leftwardly or rightwardlyas viewed in Figure 4 to permit accurate positioningof the lower. tooling with respect to the upper tooling. An adjusting screw- 48 is .threadedly received withinthe end of'block .42 and has .1

a circumferential recess which receives a pin 50 extend- .ing from plate 41 so that as screw 48. is rotated; the

block is moved leftwardly or rightwardly dependingiupon .the direction of rotation. .For' more 'accurate' guiding of this block, an additional pin 52 is provided near the op- I.

posite end of'the block which is received within a slot '54.

The upper surface of the block 42 has mounted thereon-a pair of parallel plates 56 by means of machine screws 58 which plates define a terminal feed path for the terminals 'entering'the feed mechanism. A bracket' .62 extends from block 42 along one side thereof and an additional block 60 is securedto this bracket; Block 60 extends substantially parallel to' and above the feed track defined by plates 56 and has an internal bore 63in which is reciprocably mounted a feed plunger 64. -An. car 66 extends from the; underside of plunger 64 through .a

slot in. block 69 and has pivotally mounted on its end a feed finger 68 which is normally biased in a counterclockwise direction, as viewed in Figure. 4, byrmeans of La-light spring 70. The biasing force of spring 70 should i I be such that the feed finger-is permitted tqrotate; clockwise as viewed in Figure -4 during 'the "return-strgoke of the plunger in order to permit it toride overthe first .iterminal in the stip being fed. e

Anadditional ear 72 extends from the opposite sideis;

'of plunger. 64 through aslotin bore-63." Block 60; is

cut away as indicatedat 71 and an additional bore 76 .is provided which is parallel to bore 63. A spring 74 in bore 76 is secured at its front and to ear 72 and is anchored to block at its rearward end as; viewed in I Figure 4 so that this spring normally Ito the right as viewed in that figure. a

p .A' terminal feed sl de member 78 isalso receivedivvitb bore ha a e ssrewfi s t d ns r mon b s p un e :6

; end thereof which set screw abutts; the endiof -plnngelj. 64.

Bore 63'Iis0p ened-at its righthand end as viewed in the drawing to permit adjustment'of the set scrcw; tQ .;ya1iY 5 Within precise limits the fihal posit ion. Of-. finge1 6 8 t I the end of a feed stroke. 2 Slidemember78 has a bush- 1 ing 78a on each end thereofto give ita sliding fit within bore 63. A pin 82' extends from the slide member laterallythrough an elongated slot 835-i'n thevside of block 55 160 and this pin'in-turn i's' pivo tally connected to one end ofa lever 84. Ibis lever has asliding pivotal confed from a suitable 5 is raised from the position of Figure 4, slide member 104 moves to the left in this figure while during descend of the ram, slide member '104 moves to the right. A straight section in cam track 106 at its lower end provides a dwell of the feed mechanism during the crimping part of the ram travel. The remainder of the cam track provides uniform acceleration and deceleration of the feed mechanism throuhgout its entire travel.

It is advantageous to provide a means for applying a light downward pressure on the strip "of terminals so that the strip will be held against accidental movement other than the feeding motion. In the disclosed embodiment a holddown means is provided in the form of a generally U-shaped bracket 110 having portions which extend across the top of block 41 and which bridge the space between the guideways 56.- This U-shaped bracket has a section which extends downwardly along the side of"'block 42 and'benea'th and into a recess' on t'the :underside of the block. A spring 112 bears against this foot portion of the bracket and normally biases the entire bracket downwardly thus to apply a light pressure against the terminal strip. In order to permit raising of thishold down device as when a new strip of terminals isthreaded through the mechanism, an extension 114 is provided which projects upwardly through a slot in brack- .et 62 and has mounted ont its end a cam 116 so that as this cam is rotated in a clockwise direction as viewed in Figure 4 the hold-down bracket is'pulled upwardly againstthe force of spring 112; 1

In operation, and assuming theparts are in the position of Figure 1 with the ram at its top dead center position, upon downward movement of the-ram, slide member 104 is moved rightwardly from the positionof .Figure 1 to the position of Figure 4. This causes lever 84 to be oscillated in a'cloekwise direction about its pivot point in the head "of pin 86.1 During such oscillation, :slide .78 moves leftwardly as viewed in Figure 4 and pushes plunger 64 to the-position shown in Figure 4 to feed the first or leading terminal in the strip to a position beneath the crimping dies. Thereafter the ram contimes to descend and upon its reaching'its bottom dead .center positionthe terminal is crimped onto a wire. It .will be apparent upon reflection that as lever 84 oscil- 'lates in a clockwise direction, its motion with respect to pin 86, 87 is not a simple pivoting on the axis ofrpin ;87. but must also includesome sliding of the leverin fthe-slotted head of the pin.- This sliding motion of lever 84takes place by reason of the fact thatthe motion 1 of slide 78 is rectilinear rather than arcuate, therefore, the'pivot'al axis of the lever 84 must undergo continuous change during the oscillation. w, I

0n upward movementof the ram, the motions desscribed above are followed in reverse order, that is sh' de 78 is retracted as lever 84 oscillates in a counterclock;

T wise direction around its pivotal axis-and link 100 andx Plunger 64 is retracted during this upward movement 'nection'intermediate ,its'ends in the slotted} head 85 are; pf h r m by-vir f spring 74 which pulls-the plunger a pin having a stem portion 87 which is .rotatably received within an axial bore in a ,bolt' 88. This bolt is adjustably locked by means of a 'nut 90 in a guide track 92 provided in a' bracket 94 whichis secured byfbolts' 9j6 to one leg of thepress frame? I As explained more 'fully l i 'c 1191i 88 F l erps t n way; ss P in --c'ni g uide track 92 therebyfto permitanpihiini {'inen't within guide tjrack limitsof the stroke. plunger for varying siz e's ofterminals. 5

'The opposite end'of lever 84- is pivoted at 96 to a i,"

-link 100 which in turn is pivotally connected at'102' to lt'will-benoted that an infinite degree of adjustability'is :permitted for the stroke of 'thefeed .finger by virtue of the sliding arrangement for the pivotal axis forlever 84. Moreover, such adjustment of the stroke can be made rapidly by reason of the fact'that-the. nut 88 need "a slide member' 1 04 which is horizontally reciprocable in merely be loosened and positioned .properly'on track the embodiment shown in guide'ways provided be- :tween the legs of the press frame 2. Inthe-'section of :thislslide member whicht lies behindpress ram-28; there '5 is provided a cam track 1106 which reserv sa eat n tel- .92 to achieve the proper stroke. Since track 92 is parallel to lever 84 when the lever is oscillated to the limit of its clockwise 'travel- (as shown i'n Figu're 4), "ad- 'just'mntof the position of-nut 88 does not change the .lowerl108 mountedo'nth press" so 'that' as the 75 'rul'isition of feed finger68 whenthishnger is at the end of its leftward travel. In other words, when the stroke is shortened or lengthened by. adjustment of nut 88, the limit of the return stroke is changed and not the limit of the forward (feeding) stroke. This arrangement is advantageous in that, when the apparatus is adjusted for a shorter terminal, it is necessary to adjust nut 88 but it is not necessary to adjust the position of setscrew 80. Adjustments can be made for the final positioning of the feed finger by means, of set screw 80 when necessary. These features of adjustability are of importance in any press where varying types of terminals are used because of the fact that the feed stroke for any given terminal must be precisely controled and the positioning of the terminal at the end, of the feed stroke must be accurately fixed for proper crimping.v i

r In the disclosed arrangement with the shape of the cam track106 as shown, and taking into consideration the motion of the ram 28, a feeding stroke is achieved in which the finger first. accelerates at a constant rate to a maximum velocity and then decelerates at a constant rate until it comes to a halt and dwells during a brief interval during which the terminal is crimped. Such constant accelerationand deceleration of the feed finger is highly desirable, particularly where, as in many crimping presses feeding takes place within an extremely short time interval, since the terminal being fed comes to a halt slowly and its interia at the end of the feeding stroke is extremely. low. By reason of this fact, there is little or no tendency for the terminal to be misaligned or improperly positioned with respect to the crimping dies. On the other hand where the terminals are fed in a stroke that involves a nonconstant deceleration, as with many prior art feeding devices, the terminals have a substantial amount of inertia at the end of the stroke and this inertia is damped out when the terminals come to a stop. At that time, there is a tendency for the terminals to vibrate and become misaligned with respect to the crimping dies.

By reason of the constant acceleration and constant deceleration rates achieved with the instant device, the component parts of the feeding mechanism can be relatively light in weight and this feature is desirable because of the fact that terminals frequently are made from relatively light guage material and it is not desirable to impose heavy stresses on them by the feedfinger or the hold-down device. For example, in the instant apparatus, the holddown device 110 can be arranged such as to impose only a very light downward force on the strip of terminals whereas in previous feeding mechanisms it was often necessary to impose a substantial downward force in order to prevent overfeeding.

It will be noted that the feed finger 68 moves along a rectilinear path and during the actual feeding strokes it does not rotate about its pivot point on ear 66. In many prior art feeding devices, on the other hand the feeding finger has been pivotally mounted on a pivot point which follows an arcuate path during the feeding stroke. The disclosed arrangement is preferable in that the terminal being fed is not subjected to unbalanced and changing forces as it is pushed toward the crimping zone. Such unbalanced and changing forces on the terminal sometimes have a tendency to misalign the terminal with respect to the crimping dies, particularly, where the terminals are relatively small and are of thin gauge material.

The instant device feeding mechanism feeds the terminal on the down stroke of the ram and delivers the terminal to the feeding zone before the crimping dies arrive at their bottom dead center position. This arrangement is very desirable in fully automatic leadmaking machines since the alternative of feeding the terminal on the upstroke of the ram requires that the feed finger moves over the strip of terminals during the down stroke in order to be in position for the next feeding cycle. This movement of the finger relative to the terminals after the completion of feeding may cause misalignment of the terminal. Where it is necessary to feed the terminal on the up stroke (as in the semiautomatic lead making machines), it is only necessary to change the direction of the upper portion of cam track 106 thereby to cause slide member 104 to move leftwardly on the down stroke and rightwardly on the up stroke of the ram.

As an alternative to having the set screw abut plunger 64, it is feasible to have the slide members 78 and plunger 64 intergrally connected to each other by means of an adjustable set screw having right and lefthanded threads thereon. Where this arrangement is employed rather than the disclosed arrangement the spring 74 can be eliminated if desired and adjustment of the position of the feed finger is achieved by rotation of the right and lefthanded screw so that the parts move towards or away from each other as the screw is turned.

I claim: t

1. Apparatus for feeding terminals comprising, a ram reciprocable towards and away from a crimping zone, a terminal feed track extending towards said zone, reciprocable feed means for pushing a terminal along said track towards said zone, a lever pivotally connected at one end to said reciprocable feed means, said lever being pivotally mounted intermediate its ends and being slidable relative to its intermediate pivotal mounting, a slide reciprocable along a path extending adjacent to, and transversely of the direction of reciprocation of, said ram, earn means acting between said slide and said ram for moving said slide in a first direction during descent of said ram and in the opposite direction during ascent of said ram, and a link connecting said slide to the opposite end of said lever thereby to oscillate said lever and actuate said feed means, said pivotal mounting being adjustable along a locus extending parallel to said lever when said feed means is in its forward position thereby to permit changing of the amplitude of the feed stroke without changing the forward limit of the feed stroke.

2. Apparatus for feeding and crimping terminals comprising, a ram reciprocable towards and away from a crimping zone, a terminal feed track extending towards said zone, a terminal feed slide member reciprocable along a confined rectilinear path towards and away from said zone, means reciprocated by said terminal feed slide member for pushing a terminal along said terminal feed track towards said zone, a lever pivotally connected at one end to said terminal feed slide member, a pivotal mounting for said lever, said lever being longitudinally slidable relative to said pivotal mounting while being pivotally oscillated thereon, an actuating slide member reciprocable along a path extending substantially normally of the path of reciprocation of said ram, cam means acting between said ram and said actuating slide member, and a link connecting said actuating slide member to said lever whereby, upon reciprocation of said ram, said lever is oscillated and slides relative to said pivotal mounting, and said terminal feed slide member is reciprocated along said confined path thereby to feed a terminal towards said crimping zone.

3. Apparatus for feeding and crimping terminals comprising a ram reciprocable towards and away from a crimping zone, a terminal feed track extending towards said zone, a terminal feed slide member reciprocable along a confined rectilinear path towards and away from said zone, a feed plunger reciprocable along said confined path and disposed adjacent said terminal feed slide member, means on said plunger for engaging and feeding terminals, resilient means normally biasing said plunger against said terminal feed slide whereby, upon reciprocation of said terminal feed slide, a terminal is fed towards said crimping zone by said feed plunger, a lever pivotally connected to said terminal feed slide, a pivotal mounting for said lever, said lever being longitudinally slidable relative to said pivotal mountng while being pivotally oscillated thereon, and motion transmitting means for a "tie-1159a transmitting motion from said ram to said lever thereby to oscillate said lever and to reciprocate said terminal Ifeed slide member.

4. Apparatus forfeeding and crimping terminals com- :prising. a ram reciprocable towards and away from a crimping zone, a feed track extending. towards said zone, a plunger movable along a confinedpath towards and vaway from said zone, means on said plunger for pushing a terminal along said track towards said zone, a feed slide disposed adjacent said plunger and reciprocable along said confined path, resilient means normally biasing said plunger againstfsaid feed slide, and means for reciprocating said feed slide along said confined path thereby to reciprocate said plunger and to feed a terminal along said track.

5. Apparatus as set forth in claim 4 including extendible means interposed between said feed slide and said plunger to permit adjustment of. said slide and said plunger towards and away from each other.

6. Apparatus for feeding and crimping terminals comprising, a ram reciprocable towards and away from a said ram for reciprocating said slide member along said I confined path whereby said plunger is reciprocated'arid a terminal is fed toward said crimping zone. f 7. Apparatus for feeding terminals comprising, .a'r'aiij reciprocable, towards and away from a -crimping'zon"ef, a terminal fee'd track extending towards said zone, re,- ciprocable feed means for pushing a terminal along said track towards said zone, a lever pivotallyconnected at one end to said reciprocable feed'means, said lever being pivotallyrmounted intermediate its ends andbeing'slidable relative to its intermediate pivotal mounting, and motion transmitting means between the opposite end of said lever andsaid'rar'n for oscillating said lever whereby, upon reciprocation of said ram, said feed means is reciprocated and a terminal is fed into said crimping zone, said pivotal mounting for said lever being adjustable along a locus extending parallel to said lever when said feed means is in its forward position thereby to permit changing of the amplitude of the feed. strokewithout changing the forward limit of the feed stroke. 1

' References Cited in the file of this patent' UNITED STATES PATENTS Westbye Feb. 19, 1918 1,256,624 a 1,506,535 Kostzich Aug. 26, 1924 1,715,850 Loewy June 4, 1929 2,339,410 Keller Jan. 18, 1944 2,548,807 Y Morgan Apr. 10, 1951 Hellman Dec. 16, 1952 

